


Close at Hand

by Anonymous



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: King Stannis Baratheon, M/M, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:29:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29162685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Melisandre suggests a way to increase Stannis's power. Davos will do anything for his king.
Relationships: Stannis Baratheon/Davos Seaworth
Collections: Five Figure Fanwork Exchange 2020





	Close at Hand

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thedevilchicken](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedevilchicken/gifts).



Davos pelted up the stairs of the Stone Drum tower, holding on to the stone wall for balance. He would have taken the stairs two at a time if he had been able to manage it, but they were too high for that, even at the center of the tower. By the time he burst out into the corridor where the king's chambers were, his heart was pounding enough to leap from his chest. He tried to calm his breathing by the time he reached the door, but he was still breathless and unable to immediately explain himself when he threw the door open to reveal Stannis and Melisandre deep in conference. 

They both stared at him. Melisandre's face was as impassive as it ever was, but Stannis rose. "Ser Davos," he said, "what is the meaning of this?" 

"Sire," Davos gasped, finally having breath enough for this one word. "You must not burn the Seven."

Stannis's eyebrows met in consternation. He was not prone to his brother's rages upon being defied, but he was still highborn and had rarely been told he _must not_ do something. 

"And what would you have me do instead, in your eminent wisdom?" he asked, voice dangerously low. 

Inwardly, Davos winced. He was not afraid of Stannis, much less was he afraid to tell him something he didn't want to hear. But he did not have an answer to this. 

He swallowed hard. At least he had breath enough for this now that he'd had a chance to catch it. "Your Grace, you know I want nothing more than for your reign to be successful. But your people know the Seven, have always known the Seven. They follow them." His voice shook. "I follow them." 

He knew he had no claim to Stannis, he had to remind himself. No matter how much time they might have spent together, frequently sitting in companionable silence in Stannis's rooms at the Red Keep (and frequently not in silence as Stannis read to him), no matter how many shy glances he fancied Stannis cast his way at feasts, no matter how many times Stannis looked away from Davos after announcing he'd turned down yet another marriage proposal. 

But perhaps there was an affection there, and if he reminded Stannis that the Seven were still his gods… He glanced at Melisandre, who was sitting in what he'd come to regard as his chair. He dismissed the jealous impulse that threatened to overwhelm his rational thought. He had no right to that chair, no more than he had a right to Stannis himself. He was just trying to guide Stannis on the right track. 

"Then what do you propose? Melisandre says burning the statues of the Seven will increase my power."

"I know nothing of power, sire, but you will surely gain yourself no followers. Your brother—" 

"Is a traitor…"

"Can be courted." Davos clenched his fist so hard his shortened fingers ached as they pressed into his palm. "But not if you burn the gods." 

Davos was well aware of Stannis's relationship (or lack thereof) with the gods, and he almost regretted insisting Melisandre be given bread and salt as a visitor to Dragonstone, even if he didn't believe a word she said. That Stannis listened to her had always surprised him, as he'd been the most hesitant to listen to her in the first place. Davos wondered if perhaps he had just been hungry for someone telling him he had a greater purpose. 

_That could be me_ , the petulant part of him thought. _He is special in my eyes, and I would have told him a thousand times if he needed to hear it._

"There is a way," Melisandre said. 

They both turned to look at her. 

"I have a way for him to draw power to himself," she went on. "It requires only a simple ceremony, with someone in a position of great trust."

Stannis's eyes instantly flicked to Davos. "What sort of person?" 

"Anyone you choose. Anyone you trust."

Davos watched Stannis out of the corner of his eye; he did not want the king to know he was under observation. There was a muscle going in his jaw, and he seemed deep in thought. "Such as Ser Davos?"

"A prime candidate." 

Stannis was again silent for a long time. Davos tensed, bracing for rejection. 

"What kind of ceremony?" Stannis asked at length. 

"You will stand before the fire in front of your court and be bound." 

"Married?" Stannis asked instantly. Davos tried to determine if this would be unwelcome, but he could not do so.

She smiled. "No. The bond will allow you to complement one another's power. It will be a soul bond." 

"I have never heard of a soul bond." Stannis's voice dripped with skepticism. 

"You are Azor Ahai reborn, Your Grace." Davos had heard her speak of his before, but he didn't know how he felt about it. Davos had known followers of the Red God in his time in Essos. He knew vaguely of the story of Azor Ahai. He did not think Stannis could be Azor Ahai reborn. It seemed terribly unlikely. "He needs a companion, as Azor Ahai had Nissa-Nissa." She saw Stannis open his mouth again, and added, "There will be elements of marriage, but it is not marriage." 

"My king is an exceptional man," Davos agreed diplomatically. "I would do anything for him. If being bound to me can allow him to draw power, I will do it." 

Stannis seemed to relax back against his chair. "Thank you, Davos." He glanced up at Melisandre. "You may go. I will summon you if I have need of you." 

She nodded and Davos watched her go, sensing that Stannis was waiting until they were alone before saying something.

"Sit, Davos." 

Davos obeyed quickly, reclaiming his chair. He waited for Stannis to speak, but Stannis was gazing into the fire. 

"Davos, do you believe a word she said? About power?" 

"Do you, Your Grace?"

Stannis looked up at him, eyes narrowed. Davos had known he was taking a risk by tossing the question back to Stannis, but he wished to know the answer. 

He held his king's gaze.

Stannis sighed. "I do not know, Davos. That is why I hoped you would tell me. I have had little reason to have much faith in my life. Much of what I value has been taken from me." 

There was a silence, in which Davos heard only the sound of the wind on the Stone Drum.

"I did not want this crown. You know that. But it is mine. I could remain here on Dragonstone with you and let the Lannisters take my throne."

There was a hitch in Davos's breath he hoped Stannis did not notice at the idea that Stannis would be on Dragonstone _with_ him. 

"But you never would, sire." 

Stannis steepled his fingers. "You know me too well, Davos." 

Davos gave him a tight smile. "It pleases me to know you, sire."

Stannis sat back in his chair, relief obvious in his bearing. "Then you will go through this foolishness she calls a soul bond?" 

Davos's heart was pounding again. "Is that what you think it? Foolishness?" 

Stannis sighed. "I think we will stand before the fire and she will throw a bit of powder in it and say a few words and nothing will change." 

"But she will not burn the Seven. Thank you for that, sire."

"Aye." Stannis pushed himself out of his chair. He stopped in front of the window and stood, hands behind his back, watching the rain roll down the panes. "Thank you for agreeing to her alternative. I do not think it will do anything, no more than burning the statues would have. But it is worth a try, I think, for we have no hope otherwise." 

"Then I will gladly do it, sire." 

Stannis did not turn from the window, but there was relief in his voice. "Thank you, Davos." 

Davos took his leave, but he did not sleep. His mind was racing too fast and too far and would not let him rest, no matter how much he tried to focus himself on nothing but the wind and rain outside.

Before sleep claimed him shortly before dawn, he said a prayer to the Seven. Perhaps they would bless him for having saved them. Or perhaps Stannis really was Azor Ahai and Davos was to play a part in that. Only time would tell. 

**

Stannis woke the next morning and lay abed much longer than was his custom. His mind was overrun with worries, as if being king hadn't been bad enough. Now he was thinking about Davos again.

Davos had obsessed his thoughts for fifteen years, and he had never been able to confess his feelings. _Because you were too scared_ , said the voice that was almost like his brother's. _Because you are a coward._

Stannis shook his head. He could not think about that now. His mind had to be on the upcoming ceremony and what it was for: claiming his throne. 

Still, thoughts of Davos occupied his mind as he rose and dressed. Stannis had never kept a manservant to help him dress, and he was most glad for it now, for he had no one to go babbling in the servants' quarters about the king's distracted manner. 

He breakfasted alone and was enjoying his solitude until the door opened to admit Maester Cressen. 

Stannis rose out of habit. "Maester. This is a long way to have come. You could have sent for me." 

The old man smiled. "Not when you are the king, Stannis." 

Stannis relaxed, still glad Maester Cressen called him by his name. The one person left who might do so. 

_Renly might_ , he thought, _but he is not here._

Maester Cressen accepted Stannis's help to the chair nearest the fire. 

"Ser Davos has said the two of you are to be bonded. He used that word, I assume, for a reason." 

Stannis felt suddenly guilty. Maester Cressen had to have realized where no one else had that the reason Stannis had never married was that the one person he would have wanted to marry was strictly forbidden to him. 

"It is something of Melisandre's devising, something that she insists will raise our power by drawing us closer." 

"I am not sure you and Ser Davos could be much closer," he said with a smile. "Or what you could do yourselves that would manifest ships and men, swords and spears." 

"And it can hurt nothing if it does nothing." Stannis was not completely confident of this, but it made him feel better to say it. 

Maester Cressen merely nodded his head. Stannis recognized this as disagreement he didn't want to voice, had first recognized it as a boy seeing Maester Cressen nod this way at Stannis's own father. He didn't like seeing his trusted teacher and mentor doing it to him now.

Stannis stood. "It is to be tonight. You may not attend if you do not wish to. But we will allow her to blow smoke at his and look into her fire and if nothing happens, we will be no worse off." 

Maester Cressen nodded again, and Stannis swept off to his solar to begin his work for the day, such as it was.

Despite his determination, his thoughts drifted with nerves back to the ceremony which was to occur at sunset. He stayed in his solar, forgoing dinner in his agitation. The sun was sinking toward the sea when his petrified squire came to fetch him. 

He had done barely any work at all. 

He made his way to the chamber of the painted table in a daze. He almost regretted not changing his clothes, before reminding himself there was no need for that. It wasn't a wedding. 

Davos was already with Melisandre in the chamber of the painted table. The braziers surrounding the room were blazing, sending shadows dancing in the corners. The few lords of the Narrow Sea who had come looked uncomfortable; Stannis pulled his eyes away. He regretted allowing them to see this. 

"Your Grace." Melisandre curtsied and Davos sunk to one knee. 

_Why didn't I ask him to marry me?_ Stannis thought wildly, his heart lurching into his throat. _He might have accepted a proposal. He might have allowed a long engagement, if Robert forbid us to marry._ Surely he would not have brought physical harm on him. But Stannis had never wanted to take that chance. He had spent fifteen years refusing to marry without ever giving Robert a target that could have been eliminated. 

And now they would be bound without being wed, here before Stannis's lords, without even the dignity of being married. 

"Let us begin." Melisandre bid them draw closer to the center of the room. Right beside the Painted Table, off the coast of the Reach, sat a cauldron, inside which was bubbling something Stannis only now realized they would be expected to drink. 

"Ser Davos, do you agree to bind yourself to the king, body and soul, to enhance his power?" 

"Yes." Davos's gaze was steady. Stannis's heart beat wildly to look at him and to think how much he really did regard him. He had never regretted anything more than his own cowardice at not having them married instead of this. 

"Your left hand, ser." 

Davos extended it without question. She waved her hand over his, tossing a small handful of some sort of powder into the cauldron. There was a puff of smoke and it turned a dark green. 

"Your Grace?" 

Stannis blinked and extended his hand. She made the same motions, turning the potion a deep blue. 

_Carnival tricks_ , Stannis thought. 

"Now drink," she instructed. 

Stannis felt almost as though he was not in control of his own body. His hand descended into the cauldron and filled a goblet to the rim, per her instructions. Across from him, Davos was doing the same. 

"Well, Your Grace." Davos lifted the goblet in a mockery of a toast. 

"Davos." Stannis drank. 

It was warm going down his throat, seeming to fill his whole body, all the way to the tips of his fingers and toes. 

He tried to get a sense of what Davos was experiencing, but his eyes were closed. 

"It will take full effect in the morning," Melisandre advised. 

Stannis felt almost let down by how anticlimactic it had been. He had been expecting more to the ceremony, though he realized now what he'd been expecting was marriage: to be bound to Davos in a ceremony of ritual and then to lead him back to his bedchamber so that they might enact the fantasies he'd harbored for so many years. 

_Fool_ , he berated himself once again, though the longing was stronger than it had ever been, to draw Davos close and kiss him gently, to make long, slow love to him. 

Not that Stannis knew how to go about that, but that did not change his fantasies. 

Davos was smiling at him, vexingly the very same smile Stannis had always imagined on his face as they climbed the stairs on their wedding night. 

"Shall we retire, then, Your Grace, and face this on the morrow?" 

Stannis's stomach had turned over several times throughout that sentence, beginning with the implication that they might retire together, which Davos had dismissed in the next breath. 

"That seems the sensible thing," he agreed. "Good night, Davos. My lady." 

"Good night, sire." 

Stannis hardly marked the journey back to his rooms, where he'd begun the day in such turmoil. His heart was no less in a tumult now, though the anxiety of the ceremony was past. He lay awake, not sleeping, listening to the wind outside. In time, though, he must have dropped off, for his dreams were pleasant, and exactly the sort of forbidden thing he had not let him think about. Davos's shortened fingers skimming his skin, his mouth venturing all sorts of forbidden places Stannis had hardly even allowed himself to touch… his tongue venturing inside… Stannis woke in a cold sweat, with a tightness in his chest that could not have been entirely borne of anxiety. It was past dawn and the seabird calls filtered in through his window, a rare sunny day on Dragonstone. He let out a repressed sigh. 

Nothing had changed. 

It was not until he sat up fully that he realized everything had. 

**

Davos woke blearily from the filthiest dream he'd ever had, hand on his cock which was rock hard. Dimly, he tried to hold on to some scrap of it to finish the job, thrusting into his hand as the Stannis in his dream thrust into his arse. Being fucked hard by Stannis was not an unusual fantasy for Davos, and it had made it into his dreams from time to time, but this seemed especially vivid: Stannis's large hands gripping his hips, his desperate breathing in Davos's ear, the little grunt he let out as he climaxed, spilling hot seed inside Davos. 

The grunt was new; he decided he liked the grunt. A moment later, in which his dream Stannis had had to make a few more well-aimed thrusts (Stannis rarely came first in his dreams, and Davos was perplexed as to how this had happened—dream Stannis rarely did anything without Davos's explicit permission), Davos was coming into his hand, allowing himself a louder groan for the satisfaction of it. 

He collapsed onto the bed, wondering what exactly had brought this on. He wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth of course, and the intimacy of being "bonded" to Stannis (whatever that meant) certainly led the mind down certain pathways. 

But nothing of the sort had happened in reality, not that he'd expected it to. But it had certainly made his dreams more intense, apparently. 

He pushed the covers aside and opened his bedcurtains. As much as he'd have liked to lay in bed all day and fantasize about Stannis, he had work to do. He must prepare for his journey in Stannis's name to spread the word of his ascendance to the throne, the queen's infidelity, and to secure assistance for Stannis's cause. 

He was struck immediately by an iron band on his chest. Had he not been still sitting on his bed, he surely would have fallen. 

He tried to push him up and stumbled so he was kneeling on the rushes. He had to drag himself upright by the bedpost. 

Davos paused there, trying to catch his breath. What had changed? He had been fine just a moment ago, when he was asleep, or mostly asleep. He had surely been close enough to wakefulness that pain would have awakened him. He took a ragged breath. 

He was startled suddenly by the door to his bedchamber slamming open to admit Stannis. The first thing he noticed was how flustered he looked, the second was how he wore only his shirt and braies. 

The third thing Davos noticed was that the pain had vanished. 

"Davos," Stannis said. "Did you…?" 

He stopped. Davos suddenly lost his nerve to respond, because what he would have said was monstrously foolish. _Did you have a pain in your chest when we were apart that vanished the closer you came?_ He could not say that. 

Stannis had his hand pressed to his chest, but he did not look like he was in distress. "Davos, please tell me I did not imagine this. Please tell me you felt it, too." 

"I did." 

Stannis slumped in relief, taking the nearest chair. "Then I am not mad. I cannot half believe it, Davos, though if you say it happened, it surely did. Did you just awaken?" 

Davos nodded mutely. He supposed it ought to have been obvious, given that he still in bed. Davos carefully moved his right hand behind his back, lest Stannis somehow tell what he had just been doing. 

"Yes," he said. 

Stannis nodded. "I believe we both had to be awake for this to… begin. This must have been what Melisandre meant." He looked down at himself, seeming to have noticed his inappropriate state. "Forgive me, Davos. Let us bear this until we have both made ourselves decent and then we will speak with her." 

By Stannis's tone, it was obvious that he meant to have words with the lady. Davos watched him go with a dim smile on his face. He had liked the glimpse he'd gotten, as covered as it was in folds of linen. 

Davos dressed quickly, not wanting to keep Stannis waiting. He could almost see him storming back into his rooms, throwing his clothes on. 

Davos's stomach growled, but he ignored it. Stannis certainly wasn't stopping to eat.

Stannis hadn't told him where they were to meet, but he had a feeling where Stannis might be bound, and when he appeared in Stannis's solar, he found the king already there, staring into the fire. 

"It is still there for you, is it not, Davos?" His hand was pressed to his chest.

"Lessened now, sire, that I am here with you." 

"Aye," Stannis agreed. His mouth was twisted in a moue of vexation. 

By instinct, Davos drew slowly closer to him until he was standing by Stannis's chair. It was a rare clear day on Dragonstone, and the sun shone brightly through the windows. 

Davos watched Stannis's brooding features, watched his breathing. The odd undercurrent of anxiety he had not been able to identify was coming from Stannis. 

Davos sat, though he had not been asked to. "She said there would be a bond between us."

"Yes. She did not elaborate, but I could not imagine…" He lifted his eyes and looked at Davos. They were such a deep blue it was hard to pull his gaze away, though he'd seen Stannis's eyes countless times before. "I could not imagine _this_ was possible. It feels like madness."

"Perhaps it will pass." Sitting here, feet from Stannis, Davos could hardly remember the iron banding his chest upon waking fully. He didn't even want to entertain what the meaning of his unusually explicit dream could have been. His toes curled unbidden in his boots at the memory. 

He inched his chair closer to Stannis. The nearer they were, the better he felt. He didn't want to think about what that might mean either. 

The door opened then, Melisandre forming a blessed interruption. Stannis must have been feeling the tension too for he rocketed out of his seat. 

"What are we to do with this?" 

The look on her face was half amused. "You are bonded. I told you what that would entail—being near Ser Davos increases your power. Being far from him—" She waved her hand. "The bond will encourage you to be near each other." 

"But it is not feasible for us to live on top of each other."

"The intensity of it will ease in time," she explained. "It has not been a full day since the bond formed." She paused. "And you did not seem inclined to spend the night… together." 

Stannis turned completely scarlet. For a man who was often met with embarrassing circumstances (or, who in Davos's private estimation, was too often scandalized by things that were actually quite ordinary) it was the reddest he'd ever seen him. "We will not do that."

"Ser Davos's chambers being moved closer would suffice," she said. "The bond needs time to grow and flourish. Being in another tower entirely will not do that."

Stannis let out a heavy sigh. "That will do." He glanced at Davos. "If you have no objections?"

"None at all, sire." 

He might have been upset, felt extraneous, but he could tell somehow that Stannis only did not want to seem too eager to have him near. What the implications of that were, Davos did not want to think too hard about. 

Instead, he smiled, trying to push reassuring feelings toward Stannis. He didn't know how this bond was supposed to work, but the lighter look on Stannis's face told him he might have succeeded in reaching him.

**

Davos's rooms were moved with the minimum of fuss, and he slept much easier to know that Stannis was a few doors away rather than an entire tower. Stannis seemed better-tempered as well, though Davos would never have enquired as to how he slept. 

Instead, Davos's days were filled with, of all things, lessons. Stannis had decided that if his nearness was to bring Stannis power, Davos must be able to read. Maester Cressen was as good a teacher as Davos had always imagined him to be, but Davos was not always such a good student. 

"I cannot learn this," he said, one afternoon, pushing his chair back in frustration. "I am sorry, maester. I am too old." 

Maester Cressen gave him a level gaze. "Stannis thinks you can do it." 

Davos smiled grimly, but it had the desired effect: he soldiered on. Maester Cressen had turned out to be correct, to a degree: the more he read, the more the words seemed to make sense, though "sounding them out" wasn't always as easy as it was made to seem. Quite a few words ought to have been composed of different letters than the maesters insisted they were.

Abruptly, Davos laid his book aside. 

"You mustn't give up," Maester Cressen admonished. 

"No, the king is coming."

It took longer than plausibility could dictate for Stannis to arrive, though Maester Cressen said nothing if Davos's powers of prediction seemed odd. 

"Davos, I need you," he said urgently. "Come with me to speak to Lady Melisandre." 

Davos inclined his head to Maester Cressen. "I take my leave, maester." 

Stannis bowed stiffly. "I apologize for taking your pupil, maester." 

"None needed, Stannis." Maester Cressen smiled. "If the realm needs Davos, it needs him."

There was a strange flare of pride from Stannis, Davos noted. He'd been away from him for most of the day, and as he followed Stannis, he found himself awash again in his emotions. Anxiety, anticipation, an undercurrent he couldn't identify, but when he cast a glance at Davos before opening the door, he recognized it: pride. 

_He can't be proud of me_ , Davos thought. _He must be proud of himself for having achieved what he has longed for._

But he knew Stannis had never lusted for power or wanted to be king. Being made Lord of Storm's End would have made him proud, but even Davos knew that kingship was too much for him. 

But why else could he be proud?

Melisandre was waiting for them. She stood at the window, looking out over the sea. It was another clear day, and Davos felt a sudden desire to be out on the sea, rather than stuck inside. He had a feeling he was not going to like what would transpire here. He could sense Stannis's nerves returning. 

"Your Grace." Melisandre turned from the window. 

"I was getting Ser Davos," he said, by way of explanation. He did not need to justify Davos's presence to her, but perhaps he did to Davos. "We are bonded, as you say so often. Thus, I would have him with me when we talk."

"Very well." She stepped forward. "Seven nights from now would be the most portentous time."

There was a muscle working in Stannis's jaw. 

"Time for what?" Davos asked innocently. It could not be something blasphemous, for that had been what their bond was meant to prevent. 

Melisandre arched a brow. "Your Grace?"

Stannis sighed. Davos tried to think reassuring thoughts at him. It might have been his imagination, but Stannis seemed to relax. "We must move on my brother. He will not come to my aid, so we must take Storm's End."

Davos's face was impassive, but he knew Stannis could tell how he really felt. His gaze was fixed on Melisandre, but his eyes were darting toward Davos. 

"He is your brother," Davos said. 

"He has not been a brother to me." 

"Time, Your Grace," Davos heard himself say. He did not want Stannis to do something he would come to regret. "He is in the Reach gathering allies."

"For himself." 

"You don't know that."

Stannis stalked to the window. "He has made no answer to any of my summons." 

"I have a feeling, sire."

"A feeling." Stannis's voice dripped with ice. Davos might have been intimidated, but he had negotiated with pirates and blackguards. Stannis did not scare him.

"A feeling," Davos agreed. He turned to Melisandre. "I was meant to give the king strength, was I not?" 

Melisandre smiled. "Then you must prove it." 

Davos's stomach sank, but he held her gaze. He could not look away.

It was only when he was outside the door that his hands began to shake. 

Davos was still half trembling from the interaction when he went to bed that night. It wasn't that he disliked Melisandre. Her influence over Stannis had been beneficial to him so far. He couldn't fault her for that, nor could he fault her if she really did believe Stannis was Azor Ahai.

But he was also not afraid to stand up to her if the things she suggested actively harmed Stannis's bid for the throne. He would have been lying if he'd said he wasn't concerned that Stannis would be angry at him, but he wasn't afraid of Stannis either, not when he had to say was in Stannis's best interest. 

With those thoughts fluttering about in his head, he tried to get ready for bed. He liked his new rooms, overlooking the sea rather than a courtyard. Stannis was a comforting, near presence, and he opened the window so he could hear a bit of the sea, though summer would soon be drawing to a close. He aimed to enjoy the last bit of warm breeze that tasted of salt and brought the sound of waves in with it, even if it was Dragonstone, which was no match for the warm shores of the other side of the Narrow Sea. 

Davos drifted off to sleep, imagining going somewhere with Stannis where the sea was warm, and they could walk on the beach hand-in-hand. 

That was the sort of absurdity he would allow himself in a dream.

**

He was not woken by anything he heard. 

It was only what he knew by how he felt. Stannis was in trouble.

Davos was out of bed before he even thought about it, only throwing on a light bedrobe and his boots before stepping out into the hall. Stannis had seen him in only his nightclothes before; he could stand to see him again, if he was in trouble. 

In the corridor, there was no disturbance. He opened the door to Stannis's chamber without knocking. 

Stannis was on the bed, apparently sound asleep, but Davos could feel the turmoil. It was even worse now that he was in the room with him, a distress that radiated off him. Pain, fear, and anguish were not emotions he associated with Stannis, but they were undoubtedly what he was feeling now. Cautiously, Davos took a step forward. 

Stannis stilled somewhat as Davos approached. His mind appeared to ease. 

Davos sat on a chair by the window, afraid to make too much noise or come any closer. He had only just realized that Stannis might be upset to awaken to find him in his bedchamber. They might be bonded, but coming into one's bedchamber at night was surely a bridge too far. 

However, it didn't escape Davos's notice that Stannis had been calmed by his presence. What harm could it be to stay near, at least until sunrise. That of course meant that Davos himself wouldn't get any sleep, but that didn't matter, what mattered was his king's health. Davos stole out of the room as the sky began to lighten. 

He managed the briefest of cat naps before Stannis's activity woke him. The bond was strengthening, he gathered, to the point where it was difficult to remain asleep for too long if Stannis was fully awake. Davos sitting up with Stannis had not been enough to waken him, but as Stannis began to dress and called for breakfast, Davos roused himself. They had been breakfasting together since Davos had moved his chambers. 

"Are you quite well, Davos?" Stannis asked, as Davos entered. 

Davos tried to smile. He didn't think he'd grown so soft that one night's sleep would have him looking overly haggard, but perhaps this, too, was the bond at work, broadcasting more of his feelings than he wanted it to. "Very well, sire." He took his seat at the table across from Stannis. 

The rest of the day, he was able to throw himself into his lessons which both kept him away from Stannis and afforded him the ability to doze slightly when he needed to rest his eyes after tackling a difficult passage. 

Because, as he'd feared, when Stannis went to sleep that night, the nightmares returned. At first, Davos was in it with him, was able to watch the ship smashed on the rocks. Just as before, he pushed the covers aside and went into Stannis's bedchamber.

He made himself comfortable on the chair with a blanket and settled in to wait out the night. 

**

Stannis blinked awake, reveling in the relaxation of two good nights' sleep. He had never slept well and since he'd declared himself king, his nights had been worse. He blamed the fires, Melisandre's nightfires, which blazed in the courtyard every night. They had blazed higher since Davos had forbidden the burning of the statues of the Seven and Stannis had gone with her as she'd bid to watch them. The shadows and shapes he saw in there were what haunted his dreams, even as Davos passed by to pray in the sept. That had fueled his nightmares, too, the idea that she might one day try to overrule Davos and what would he do then?

But none of those fears had distressed him for the past few days. Stannis pushed himself out of bed. The night had been balmy and he hadn't closed the curtains or his window. 

That was how he immediately noticed the figure sitting in the chair. 

At first he tensed, cursing the fact that he had not thought to post a guard, thinking that the guards at the docks or the gates would have been enough to keep him safe on his island fortress. He had not so much as a dagger by his bed. 

But then his vision cleared and he realized it was Davos. 

He stared for a good moment, as the breeze lifted Davos's hair. His head was nodding in sleep, and Stannis stretched himself out on his bed to watch him. There was nothing prurient about it, he told himself. He was merely assuring himself that Davos was not disturbed. 

Davos started awake before too long, blinking in confusion. "Oh! Your Grace!" 

"I didn't mean to disturb you," Stannis said, as though Davos had not been in _his_ bedchamber. 

"No, of course not. You did nothing of the sort. I—" 

Davos's voice seemed to fail him. 

"I knew you had not been sleeping," Stannis said plainly. "Is this, perhaps…" He didn't want to admit right away that Davos's presence had calmed him, for he realized now that's what it was. Perhaps Davos's sleep had been disturbed and he'd sought refuse with Stannis? Stannis's calm sleep had been a pleasant side effect. 

"You were having a nightmare, sire." Davos drew his robe closer around himself, making Stannis even more aware that he himself was still in bed. "I… did not want to wake you, but I could feel you calm when I was in here with you." 

"Surely I was not tossing and turning." 

"No. But I felt the calm… in your mind." 

The nervousness that radiated off Davos as he said this was more than proof enough of the bond. Whatever this was, whatever had been in no book Stannis or Maester Cressen had been able to find in the Dragonstone library (and he was certain that between them, they'd checked every book), it was certainly real. 

"I see," he said, finding himself willing to accept this, however absurd it sounded. 

"I think," Davos began slowly, "that our nearness to each other is calming." 

"Aye," Stannis agreed. An idea occurred to him bubbling up at the back of his mind. "Perhaps it would be calming to us both if you slept here. My bed is surely big enough. There is certainly no shame in retainers sharing a bed with their liege." _Perhaps in some smaller keep_ , Stannis thought, _not with the king._ But Davos made no objections. 

Instead, he looked almost relieved as he nodded. "That sounds fair, sire."

"Good." Stannis pushed his covers aside. "Now, let us get up to face the day and see what it may bring." 

**

That day, Davos's exhaustion and discomfort for having spent several nights in the chair was at war with his nervousness about sleeping with Stannis.

 _Not that sort of sleeping, you fool!_ he admonished himself. He had to satisfy himself he could make his mind clear of such things. The bond did not allow them to read each other's minds, for which Davos was grateful, but that didn't mean he could let his mind run wild. 

That night, they retired together, going directly from the chamber of the painted table, where they were planning the attack on King's Landing. Stannis had been reluctant to proceed without first sorting Renly, but Davos had leaned more heavily on him, and he had relented. If the bond was good for anything, Davos thought, it was for this.

Davos was aware they were both delaying the potential awkwardness of going to bed together by shifting the model ships and units of armies about on the map. Neither could say he was particularly tired when they both went to bed; Stannis's inner turmoil was bleeding into Davos's mind and as much as he tried to sooth it, they fell together into an uneasy sleep. 

**

Rain lashed the decks as Stannis struggled for purchase. Despite his years of experience sailing, he had rarely seen a storm as violent as this, not even the night his parents had died. 

He fought his way up the deck as another wave threatened to wash him overboard. 

"Davos!" 

His knight's name was so fresh on his lips he wasn't sure if he'd really shouted it or not. He could not have shouted it too loudly for Stannis was still slumbering at his side, albeit not at all peacefully. He was tossing and turning. Apparently, Stannis's presence wasn't as calming to Davos as Davos's was for Stannis. 

"Davos," he said quietly. "You are dreaming." 

There was no response. 

"Davos," he said a little louder, pulling himself a little closer on the bed. 

He brushed Davos's hair back from his face. He seemed to lean in to the touch, so Stannis repeated it, tucking his hair behind his ear. 

"Shh," he murmured, trying to be soothing, though he had never been soothing in his life. 

Gingerly, he lowered himself down next to Davos. His breathing remained calm, and Stannis took this as a sign that he might be all right. He closed his eyes. The bed was large enough to afford them the chance to sleep on opposite sides of it, but if they needed to be this close, that was a chance he would have to take. 

**

Davos woke the next morning wrapped in such warm comfort he didn't want to move. The night had turned a bit chilly through the open window and it was just enough that he did not want to leave the warmth he was ensconced in. He only had to be a little more alert to realize that he was in Stannis's arms. 

Well, not in his arms, precisely, but Stannis was spooned against his back, legs tucked around Davos's. His heart began to race with near panic.

This was quite another thing from anything they'd ever done before. Davos had not anticipated there would be touching when he'd agreed to sleep with Stannis. 

And to have Stannis wrapped around him made him completely aware of every solid inch of him. His broad chest, his powerful legs, the large hand resting casually on Davos's shoulder. 

"Are you awake?" Stannis murmured in his ear. Davos could not suppress the shiver that betrayed he was. 

"You were having a nightmare this time." There was a hint of amusement in Stannis's voice that showed he at least saw the humor in this. 

"Was I?" Davos asked blearily.

"A ship in a storm."

"Ah." Davos rubbed his eyes. "That… I was in a shipwreck once. I was a cabin boy. We got caught in a storm around the Broken Arm coming from the Arbor. I washed up ashore in Dorne. I suppose it was on my mind."

 _From my nightmare_ , Stannis thought. _He has seen my parents' ship go down._ "I'm sorry."

"It was a long time ago." Davos wriggled his way out of Stannis's arms so they would not be in what was almost a compromising position for so long. 

"I suppose if this calms us, we can continue," Stannis said. "It does no one any good if we are both sleepless."

"I agree." Davos reached for his robe, wanting to get back to his chamber as soon as possible so he could make himself presentable for the day and put this behind them.

**

Stannis watched Davos go, every move he made seared into his brain. He flopped onto his back, conscious of the warm spot his arm had landed in. He had not meant to awaken with Davos in his arms, but it had felt so maddeningly natural. 

He rubbed his eyes. He saw Davos shrugging his robe on, leaving with a toss of his hair. 

He allowed himself to let out an agonized groan. 

How had he gotten himself in this situation? 

Stannis's agony did little to change their sleeping arrangements. He had nightmares if Davos wasn't in his bed. If not nightmares of the sea's fury, then shadows consuming everything. 

**

"We will have to make our strike soon," Stannis said firmly. He was dressing, while Davos lounged on the bed. Davos felt slightly guilty about this, but Stannis had not exactly given him the opportunity to leave. At least he was wearing his robe, though to be in the bed without Stannis seemed terribly dissolute. "We do not want to give the Lannisters more time to build their defenses."

"Of course not," Davos answered, pushing himself out of bed. He went to the window which had a favorable view of the harbor. "We have the ships."

"Even if we have had to resort to using sellsails," Stannis muttered. 

"I would trust Salla with my life." 

Stannis made a noise that was half acknowledgement, half grunt. "You have done well with appealing to your connections in the East. You have been indispensable in all this, Davos. I thank you." He turned. "I wish there was some greater reward I could give you."

"I don't need a reward, Your Grace." 

"Well, you deserve one." Stannis came so close to him Davos thought he might kiss him, but he didn't. "I will have to think of what would be suitable."

"I mean it, truly," Davos said. 

Then, to his surprise, Stannis dropped to one knee and took Davos's hand in his. "Davos," he said, voice husky. "I understand you are not comfortable with this life, no more than I am. You do not seek glory and accolades. I would shun it all if I could. That you are here with me through all of this has meant everything to me." 

Davos's skin tingled as though he were on the deck in a lightning storm as Stannis's head bent. He kissed the side of his hand gently. 

"Let me demonstrate my regard." 

A strangled nervous laugh escaped Davos. "In that case, sire, I will accept any reward you see fit to give me." 

"Good." Stannis gave his hand a hearty squeeze. "With this bond, Davos, we may be stuck together for some time." 

Davos smiled, twining his fingers with Stannis's. "Your Grace, I cannot say I mind at all. That is reward enough." 

Stannis was not finished. He kissed Davos's palm, then his wrist, right over the point of his pulse. His mouth lingered there. Davos's heart was pounding. 

"Your Grace…" he breathed. 

"Can I not show my appreciation?" Stannis looked up at him, then, eyes like two deep pools of blue Davos would have been wary of falling into if he hadn't already known he had fallen completely and utterly for this man. 

"If you wish," he said. His throat felt very dry. 

Stannis kissed his way back down Davos's hand before kissing each one of the fingers he had shortened. 

_I hope he is prepared_ , Davos thought, trying to dismiss the growing tightness in his breeches. _Because I may not be able to let this end here._

He had thought of it often, and it had been inescapable since they'd started sleeping together. His stomach twisted in knots when he thought of which one of them would be the one to push them over this precipice. Given his druthers, Davos would have grabbed Stannis by the waist and thrown them both headlong off it together, but Stannis would always be Stannis. 

And it seemed Stannis was wont to take things slow, as he did everything. He gave Davos one final kiss on the hand and rose. "I wonder if this works," he said, twining their fingers together. Davos drew closer, glad that Stannis seemed unwilling to spend too much time without touching him. He squeezed Stannis's hand. 

"The bond? You have said before you feel it as I do."

There was a burst of irritation from Stannis's end of it. "No. I mean is it truly increasing my power?" 

Davos laid his hand on Stannis's shoulder, trying to soothe him. "You are worried about your brother?" 

"No word," Stannis growled. 

"Then let us see," Davos said. "Let us see if what she said was true about the closer we grow increasing your power. Your lords have been more tractable since we began sleeping in the same bed."

"Yes." There was a faint flush on Stannis's neck. 

"Then I propose an experiment." Davos let his shortened fingers trail up the back of Stannis's neck, brushing into his hair. He drew Stannis's head down slowly so that he would not panic, and kissed him. It was not a deep kiss, but it was long and curious. When Davos pulled back, Stannis followed, 

"Shall we see what becomes of this?" Davos murmured, breathless after several kisses. Lazily, he let his fingertip trail along Stannis's stubbled jaw. 

Stannis's answer was to kiss him again. 

That afternoon, a raven fell out of the storm bearing word from Lord Renly that he brought the strength of the stormlands and his new husband's forces in the Reach to Stannis's cause. 

"It is just coincidence," Stannis insisted, when Davos brought it up that evening. But he kissed him all the same. 

**

Stannis and Davos spent much of the next few days overseeing the preparations for their departure. They planned to approach the capital on separate ships and activities like this helped them strengthen their bond for when that happened. Gone were the early days when Davos had awakened with an iron band around his chest. They had tested it by increasing the distance they could travel from each other without pain until it was adequate to the distance they would have during the battle. 

Stannis was still there, of course, in the back of his mind, just as much as he was every morning when Davos woke in Stannis's arms. For all his talk of preparing themselves for the inevitable separation, Stannis had said nothing about putting a stop to that.

Davos shook his head. Inspecting his half of the fleet was not the time to allow Stannis's strong arms to take over his mind. They were dancing around something, and it wouldn't do to have a distraction, not this close to Stannis achieving his goal. 

"Does it prove satisfactory?" Davos jumped, not expecting Stannis's voice to be so near. 

Because Stannis was not near.

Squinting into the sunlight, Davos found him, standing on a stretch of all nearly on the other side of the harbor. His arms were crossed over his chest and he looked grim, for what Davos could see of his expression. 

He lifted a hand in greeting; after a moment's pause, Stannis did the same. It was adorably endearing. He smiled. 

"It'll get us there," he said. He waited, watching for some reaction from the figure. 

Stannis had heard him. There was a swell of satisfaction in the bond, a sensation Davos had learned to love, to press up against. Just like Stannis's warm, solid body in the lazy mornings when they would speak of their plans for the day.

He swallowed hard. They had not precisely been dancing around the matter so much as ignoring it. But Davos would not have been able to spend too many mornings waking up next to Stannis and maintain his sanity. 

He watched as Melisandre approached Stannis. He couldn't hear what Stannis said to her, but he could feel the directive Stannis had given him as a tug on the bond. 

"Join us." 

Davos found them already in the chamber of the painted table, where so much had happened. It seemed Melisandre had one more instruction for them. 

"For the good of the bond," she said levelly, she said, her unsettling gaze fixed firmly on Davos. "You will surely be able be able to take your throne if you strengthen the bond to its furthest."

"And how would we go about doing that?" Stannis could not, it seemed, keep the skepticism from his voice, even now. 

"An… exchange…" 

Davos turned red, though Stannis blinked owlishly. 

"An exchange of vitality," she confirmed. 

Davos watched as it dawned slowly on Stannis what kind of vitality she meant. "Well," he said quietly.

It wasn't the rejection Davos had been fearing, but he should have realized by now such a rejection would not be coming. Stannis wanted this as much as he did. It just had to be encouraged. 

They spend the rest of the day apart, in their individual work. Stannis was sending a last-minute raven to his brother. Davos read. 

He was proud of himself for having come so far in such a few short weeks, and even though the book he was reading was explicitly titled _A Child's History of Westeros_ , he found himself absorbed in it, able to understand every word. 

It also took his mind off what was to happen tonight. He had a modest supper by himself in the room that had become his study; he sensed a discomfort and nervousness from Stannis that made him realize he ought not to press his advance too early.

After a time, he went back to his rooms (his old rooms) and spent an unreasonable time fussing with his hair before realizing Stannis cared not for that. He would have to fetch him from his paperwork. 

Indeed, he found Stannis hunched over a ledger with the stub of a candle.

"Stannis," he said quietly. He had tested using his name in the privacy of his own head, and in the dreams he had begun to suspect they shared. 

"Ah, Davos." Stannis looked up, appearing quite at sea. He shut his book. "Time for bed?" 

They had slid into a strange routine in the weeks they'd spend sleeping together, but none of that had prepared Davos in any sense for this. 

"You may take the bath first," Stannis said. "I want to speak with my uncle once more."

**

Stannis hadn't meant to prolong the inevitable. He'd just made the rounds of the castle as a king ought and consulted with his Hand. 

When he reached his bedchamber, Davos was sitting on the bed, reading. He was wearing Stannis's dressing gown. He didn't realize he'd been staring until Davos spoke. 

"We don't have to do this," Davos said. "We could just go on…" He paused. It did sound foolish, didn't it? That they could just go on lying beside each other every night, both wanting this, but never taking it? 

"No," Stannis said gruffly. "I want this." He cleared his throat. "I'll take my bath." 

"I will be here." Davos bent over his book again and Stannis stared for a long time at the curtain of hair in the lamplight. He at last pulled himself away to bathe. 

It was only once he'd finished that he realized he had a problem: Davos had taken his dressing gown. He had nothing to wear now. 

Muttering under his breath, he wrapped himself in a towel and stepped out into the bedroom. Davos was standing by the window, seeming to have just released the curtains. 

"Are you ready for bed?" Davos's eyes danced with mischief, and Stannis felt his stomach swim. There was nothing but comfort and warmth radiating through the bond. 

"I'm ready." 

Davos let Stannis's dressing gown fall from his shoulders, sending a rush of heat coursing through Stannis. Davos's eyes opened wide, answering the question of whether Davos could feel his arousal through the bond. 

His own grip on the towel about his waist had become quite weak.

Davos was looking at it with… hunger? He pressed lightly against his mind, wanting to discover his true feelings. Desire. 

Desire that matched Stannis's. 

He let the towel go and had the privilege of watching Davos's cock stiffen. Davos stepped into his arms, and Stannis reveled in their nearness. It was almost wanton to embrace Davos when they were naked, their skin pressed together. 

He kissed him. This was not how it was supposed to work, some part of him reminded himself. They ought to have had a long courtship, fully clothed, not this strange bonding which had led to sleeping together and then to this.

 _No_ , Stannis dismissed those thoughts instantly. _We had years in which we did nothing. Now we have this._

Davos ought to be kissed. Stannis was far from an experienced kisser, but Davos made it easy, parting his lips and drawing him in so that Stannis entirely lost himself in Davos's warmth. 

_His essence_ , Stannis thought. _We must exchange essences, Melisandre said._

He pressed against Davos's body, feeling the electric jolt of their cocks bumping. He reached down to stroke Davos's and found Davos's hand reaching for Stannis's own cock. 

"You like this?" Davos murmured against Stannis's lips. He rolled his hips, erection brushing Stannis's belly. 

"Yes," he finally managed, getting over the inability to speak. 

"Let me show you something you will like better." Davos kissed him once more before moving to the bed, bidding that he should follow. 

The words still swirled in Stannis's mind. _Exchange of essences._

They collapsed together on the bed, that brief moment where they had not been kissing having proved to be too long. He met Davos open-mouthed and eager. He moved his hand through Davos's hair, running his fingers all the way to the ends, loving the way Davos made a soft groan when he tugged lightly. 

For his part, he was not immune to the powers of Davos's fingers, especially the shortened ones, as the dragged down his back, or danced across his chest to tweak a stiffened nipple as he took the other one in his mouth.

"I've been reading, sire." 

"That is good," Stannis said, unsure how this was relevant. "Very improving." 

"I read a certain story," Davos went on. "A story about the Azor Ahai of legend. They say he plunged Lightbringer into the heart of his love, Nissa Nissa." 

This had been worrying Stannis at the back of his mind for weeks. Melisandre had mentioned it in passing, and he had not liked the implications that she was preparing him to bring it up again. He certainly did not like to hear Davos think of it.

He ran his hand over Davos's arm, suddenly serious. "Do not speak of that, Davos. I will never do that to you."

Davos laughed. It was a beautiful sight with his hair half fallen over his face. He loved seeing Davos unbound, not the stiff figure he sometimes was when trying to measure himself up to the lords of the Narrow Sea. "That is not what I meant, sire." He kissed Stannis. "It was a story. Do we think he literally stabbed his love or might it have meant his other sword?" 

"His other… oh." Stannis felt himself blush. Davos was still smiling wickedly. He cleared his throat. "No, Davos." He kissed Davos's neck firmly. "I will not even have that. I want you to take me." 

"Are you sure?" Davos asked uncertainly. 

"Perfectly. I have wanted nothing more than to take you entirely in me. If we are to exchange essences, I will have yours as much as you will have mine." 

"In that case…" Davos's wicked smile great wider. He rolled off Stannis. "Then I will have you, if that is your wish." 

The lazy kisses continued, and Stannis was almost able to ignore the flickering of the lamp and the dancing shadows it created that made him suspect there was something more in the air than the sweat of their lovemaking. 

He should not have been surprised when Davos eased him onto his side. 

"Let me know if you need to slow down," he said. But once Stannis realized where this was going, he wanted anything but that. 

"Fuck me, Davos," he said. It was almost like an order, but he would never have given Davos such a sharp order. Not now, not after they had grown as close as they were. 

Davos's fingers opened him up, as gently as possible. Every touch threatened to make him come apart, but he could not do that yet. Instead, he fisted the sheets, groaning as Davos eased carefully into him. 

He could not let go, not now. He knew what Davos's plan was, and even as he thrust back against him, letting Davos knew he could go deeper, that he wanted to feel him at the place that made him cry out, he could not let completely go yet. 

He had to wait until Davos was climaxing inside him, and even then, he could not wait. 

"Davos," he gasped. 

He missed him when he was gone from inside him, but that was more than made up for when Davos's mouth landed on his cock. It was all he could do to keep from spurting into Davos's mouth at that very instant. 

Davos seemed to know his quarry; not for him were the teasing sucks and flicks of the tongue he'd made when exploring Stannis's body. He swirled his tongue around Stannis's cock, drawing him deeper, and was rewarded with Stannis's climax. He kept his seal until Stannis was spent. 

Once finished, he pulled himself up Stannis's body to give him one more kiss, wickedly flavored with Stannis's seed. Stannis might have been imagining it, but his skin tingled with a new awareness. It was not the dull sort of sleepiness one usually encountered after something like this, though he wanted nothing more than to lie contentedly with Davos in his arms. Suffused with that, was the sense that he could accomplish something. Anything. 

"Is this what she meant?" he asked, skimming Davos's back. He did not have to ask to know that he felt it, too. 

"I can't say, sire. But it could be. We will have to see what it brings us." 

Seeing what happened next was further from Stannis's mind as he closed his eyes and pulled Davos close. It did not escape his notice that their breathing was in tandem. He pressed his lips to Davos's hair. What he thought next was unvoiced, but he thought, perhaps, by the tightening of Davos's arm on his waist, that he had been heard. 

**

Melisandre said nothing, though she gave them a knowing look when she was admitted to their rooms the next morning after they were up, dressed, and breakfasted. 

"I trust the bond is complete?" she asked. 

"It is," Stannis said gruffly. "To its fullest extent." 

"Then we may plan to set out. You will find you command your fleet quite adequately from one ship if you have Ser Davos as an intermediary." 

Stannis glanced down at Davos. "What do you think?" he asked. 

"A fine idea." And then, he added, even lower, "If our experience at the docks the other day is any indication, it will work."

That was what she had meant by increasing his power, he supposed, though he was quite happy with the side effects. 

**

They did, indeed, take positions on separate ships as they sailed for the capital. Stannis stood at the bow, knowing Davos was doing the same, even if he was a long way across the water. Davos's essence crackled within him, propelling him forward with purpose. The sea and sky were open to him; Stannis felt more in command of a fleet than he'd ever been. It felt almost as though he was, himself, gliding bodily across the sea. 

With Davos, of course. He half extended his arm before realizing how foolish that was. Davos was not near enough to touch, not with his body, at any rate. 

"You will surely prevail," Davos's voice sounded in his head as much as in his ears. 

" _We_ , Davos," he muttered under his breath with half a smile. " _We_ will prevail. Do not forget that."

He could feel Davos's blush and would have drawn him into his arms if they'd been close enough to do so. Instead, he only thought of it, sent the thought to Davos. He would embrace Davos when they both stood on the solid ground of King's Landing, preferably inside the Red Keep. He might do it the first moment he laid eyes on him, might even kiss him. Even if it was at the docks.

He would certainly do the last thing that was keeping them from becoming truly one, the thing Melisandre had said wasn't necessary to their bond. Not in her mind, perhaps, but it had become necessary in Stannis's. 

He allowed himself to envision it, then, keeping it within the privacy of his own mind so as not to spoil the surprise for Davos. He would like to see Davos's face, raw with happy surprise, when he dropped to one knee and took Davos's hand in his. He'd done that before, not so long ago, when his clumsy fumblings hadn't allowed him even to kiss Davos properly. 

He felt his chest swell with anticipation and pride. It was almost more tantalizing than taking the throne, the thought of asking Davos to marry him. That would be a greater reward than any of this, for it was the only thing he actually wanted for himself. 

He pushed that through the bond, receiving an answering burst of warmth. 

"Thank you, Davos," he murmured. And he murmured something else, and hoped Davos heard.


End file.
